Tag: small maine towns

Maine Is Outdoor Fresh Air, Wide Open Space.

Sometimes you have it made but can lose track of just the why part when you live in Maine.

It is easy to take for granted what we have so much of when it is not this way many other places on Earth. What makes you tick and whatever you need is found in the nature of Maine. Places in the outdoor spaces. Maine is unspoiled, under populated and 100 percent fresh and natural. We go into nature in Maine for outdoor recreation, to preserve traditions, for food and wood to burn, for answers. For beauty not found many places just too over developed.

Everything Changes In A Blink Of The Eye. Like The Seasons. Small Maine Towns Pull Together To Get Through The Good, Sad Times. Life Happens Outdoors In The Fresh Air To Clear Your Head, Calm Your Heart.

Nature is pleased with simplicity. And nature is no dummy. Isaac Newton

Nature is cheaper than therapy. Unknown

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. Lao Tzu

Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The mountains are calling and I must go. And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul. John Muir

I love places that make you realize how tiny you and your problems are. Unknown

Go where you feel most alive. Unknown

But ask some Mainers about bragging up what we have to offer and they can clam up.

Where’s My Mom? Baby Loon Wonders To Himself.

Thinking because there is not one giant tourist attraction like the place where the two mice wearing the white gloves and all their friends hang out, then somehow we are lacking. Living in Maine is plenty exciting but not in a man made way.

The best parts of Maine are the people, the experiences, the fresh air and clean water settings. Maybe the not realizing how lucky we are with all this outdoors is because a teacher or parent taught the child that there is nothing here that they felt is important. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Gratitude is riches, criticism is poverty.

When you walk outside during a winter starry night you get zapped with a sense of peace and space. The World does stop spinning and your focus improves. The trillions of stars overhead force you to realize how lucky you are, how not to take yourself too personally.
Kayaking a Maine lake or stream does the same unplug and recharge inside blow you away sensation.

Have you ever looked out with a thousand yard stare after a climb to the top of Mt Katahdin or standing on a pair of boards on a mountain top in Maine? Sea kayaking paddling out to an off shore lighthouse or reaching down to sample fresh blueberries along a craggy trail?

Come And Get It. Fish For Free Are Fresh In A Maine Lake. Adult Loons Are Excellent Anglers To Feed Their Young!

You suddenly realize this is where you find all you need, everything that is important in life to you and your family.

You and I, wildlife need wide open space.

Not a few acres set aside for millions of people like a Central Park. Not in a roomy museum hideaway in a city setting. To get the long lasting feeling of peace in nature, you need to be deep into what Maine does so well. And one week’s vacation is not a high enough RX dosage for what ails you. Or to stay centered and balanced. At peace and contented even keeled.

But being parked away from the hustle bustle can make someone who lives in Maine feel they could be missing something pretty exciting in the bright lights, big city. So take a trip, sample the city treasures and then retreat back to Maine.

Fish For Young Lake Loon. Mom Knows How To Angle For Them Best. Until Junior Learns The Ropes For Catching His Fish Dinner!

For many that trek “uptah camp in Maine” is the safety net, how they keep going and stay sane. Jammed in a space like a submarine for too long in a city setting can drive a person crazy. And easily slip into the notion that this condition is the norm for everyone in the land.

In Maine you have sixteen counties and most of them are split into three, four or more regions.

No two areas are quite the same carbon copy and every small Maine community, the handful of cities too are unique.

It’s a new year and what are your plans that involve a Maine backdrop setting for you ahead? Maine, commune with nature, go deep in

Heading North, Hitting The ITS Trails In Maine.

the woods, take in the waterfront options and enjoy our farm to table home grown experience as often as you can. Adopt your own small Maine town for reasons only you can explain and keep returning to these venues to stay current, to feel healthy and worthwhile. It is all about quality of life. I think the secret is being outdoors in Maine. Any chance you can slip outside back to nature in Maine.

Here to offer my two cents living in Maine full time.

To provide insider local tips to make your trip to Maine experience more memorable. Ask any local and feel the friendly suggestions flowing your way on the lay of the land in Maine. Maybe you have forgotten since you were a kid how much fun getting outdoors to play really is. Come visit the areas carved out of the woods by lumberjacks, by farmers creating agricultural homesteads, by rock bound coastal fishermen. Sample a local brew, some of the local cuisine and listen to the music, hear about the small Maine town history.

Snow Is Not An Evil Four Letter Word. Not In Maine.

By hooking on the fresh Maine air oxygen mask.

We’ll fix that amnesia problem of what a kid knows how to do and that adults can forget being way way too serious when life loses its fun and games approach. Don’t let the imagination go stale or completely dark from lack of use.

Like a horse stuck inside for the winter and not turned out. Slow down on the rich clover and fresh grass. Easy does it as you turn on the natural gas. No hurry. Breathe long and deep with a long hit of Maine fresh air.

Take your time, you’re not on the clock and there is no test afterwards. No two exact same methods to get that peaceful easy feeling in Maine’s outdoors no matter what one of the four seasons the calendar displays.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com | MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

January 6, 2019
What’s It Like Living In A Small Maine Town?

Life in a small Maine town.

Too slow for some, just a dream never realized to others. What’s important in your life has constants. No matter where you live. But there is a shift in how much of this, how little of that we desire. To improve the life experience.

The Joy Of Young Children, Youth To Make Life, Holidays Bright.

Maine is outdoor living all four seasons. It’s all the missing things too. Like rush hour traffic, over the top crime, high cost of living that don’t roost here. Maine is the 46th lowest state for crime.

Raising kids outside of Maine was not something I wanted to do.

Known far back into time as a young grass hopper. I believed a small Maine town would work best. Shaping the shoots or is it chutes? No matter, you get the drift.

But travel to show the kids there is life beyond the village is important. To know you can not see the World from your kitchen window. To spread those wings. And for perspective to know how lucky you really are when you are lucky enough to be involved in the day to day of small town living.

The small things are the big things.

People are less in number but way friendlier. Hands go up instinctively when driving or walking a small town side walk. Eye contact made, hello is uttered. People smile in small Maine towns. Well unless instead of talking about the local sports team or family, the topic swings to politics or pushing a certain brand of religion.

The Home Made Goodies Feasted On After A Maine Youth Game Or Performance. Your Sense Of Smell. Is The Oldest, Quickest, Sharpest Of Them All?

When a car battery goes dead, look at your watch. With an engine compartment hood raised, it won’t be long for a jump start to arrive quickly.

Using your set or the good Samaritan’s red and black jumper cables to connect the battery terminals. And if that is not the problem, sticking around to try other roadside remedies. Or make sure help arrives to take the problem to the next step of resolution.

Does everyone in a small Maine town know each other?

They would like to. Give it enough time and yes, they pretty much do. There is a connection and the strong sense of we need to row the boat together. To survive, prosper and knowing all of us get out more than we put in when volunteerism becomes automatic. Whether helping set up or tear down for a benefit church supper, a school dance, coaching a little league baseball or whatever sport’s team.

Find Yourself At The Maine Coast, Hiking To Lighthouses!

Smaller circles cause the people who live in a small Maine town to come into contact too.

There is overlap because you and I are not on one board, or in just one group.

Everyone has a big or small part, but some role in a slew of things.

Kinda like needing a certain number of credits in a variety of educational disciplines to get the life diploma. To graduate to the next level.

Families, Outdoor Fun, Maine Fresh Air. Priceless.

Home grown and closer to the action is part of it living in a small Maine town. Not so much store bought or hired out happens. When the pockets are not bottomless deep but the heart’s are full to bursting with pride.

Wanting to help in whatever way possible drives the machinery. That’s the way life should be. Hey, that would be a great slogan for Maine huh?

Rich history in our families, over lap in who’s related to who and how closely or distantly.

And once a person steps up in a small Maine town to fit a role that does not usually have a long line of replacements for the task, you’re in. For life. Or as long as you can ride shot gun and oversee the event.

The people are the small town. Not the wood and brick structures, town hall or other municipal buildings all arranged just so within the grid work. Of old streets designed before the horseless carriages or tin lizzies plied them. And horses were king.

What makes a small Maine town great?

It’s the little things that all of them have but that just does not always get the four color glossy treatment or catchy sound bite coverage. Downeast Magazine has their opinion of which of the 450 small

Maine Is Small, Friendly, Glad To Be In Vacationland Full Time Or At All!

Maine town’s stand out brightest. Depending on the benchmarks used. It just seems many of them are the tourist traps we don’t mind falling into when you have a license plate stamped with “Vacationland” above the bottom rim.

I think it is the unsung heroes in a small Maine town. The Pansy Burton’s, Win Dow’s who step up year after year. To make home made fudge or chocolate creme filled “logs”, whatever is their signature to die for dish.

Or Ken Wetmore working hours to create a lap strap cedar canoe. Or pegs by Porter, cribbage boards by Sylvester. For the local rotary auction fund raiser that pipelines money into the long list of much needed projects in a small Maine town.

This past weekend was tackling the job at a Maine farmstead with vim, vigor, gusto.

I picked up some gutter pipe, the securing elbows from SW Collins hardware store. A tool from Tractor Supply. Then tooled into store #1974, our local Walmart this past weekend to buy a can of red paint.

The last item for the cedar shingled dog house roof dying, longing, way over due for a drink of the oil based elixir. And in line at the check out, talking to the one in front, behind me and the cashier part of the conversation too. And then proceeded to walk out missing the can of barn red protective covering.

Exercised, Disciplined Maine Youth. Leave It All Out On The Sheet Of Ice Players.

To hit Dunkin’ Donuts for muffins only to find as I headed for the Jeep in the parking lot that there’s Leo Hogan. In line behind me all Wally World, that retrieved the paint, ready to deliver with a smile.

Waiting beside my unlocked SUV, with unrolled window and passing me the forgotten loot. Thanks Leo.

You appreciate the small things in Maine towns.

The behind the scenes, other side of the curtain little gestures that go a long way. The helping hand not done for attention but because it’s the right thing to do. And the reward of joy inside because you didn’t have to but you did anyway.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton ME 04730

October 18, 2016
Getting Away From Store Bought, Turning Toward Home Grown In Maine.

The term home grown extends way way beyond just where the food comes from that you serve up, put down on the family table.

What you cultivate on the local level is a known product though and takes away the mystery of where did this stuff come from anyway?

A Maine Lake For A Neighbor. Yeah, Do That.

But the attitude of doing things local, everything local has to happen in a small Maine town.

Because if spending was not done locally, instead outside the economy of the small Maine community, it would cease to exist. Or the day to day quality of life would suffer.

Because the flow of money to feed all in the small Maine town would be cut off and stranded. The population would drop off as the census number of residents bleeds out. Did a blog post on the importance of using local resources in our real estate job.

In small towns you become protective, strive to preserve what is special where you are lucky enough to live on the map in Maine.

What’s Cooking Inside, Outside When You Live In Maine? Plenty!

In a city, it might not even be considered so important whether you bought the car locally or out of town, out of state. As long as you got the best deal. Or thought you did.

Part of the roaming online to shop is motivated by the almighty dollar. But the habit of leaving a small Maine town to buy a product or service is one sure way to harm the local economy. There is something to volume that a larger market provides to whittle away on the price tag that tells you how deep to reach to cough it up. Open wide and say “ahhhhh”. But do you even need it comes into play. Better impulse control for the spending in small Maine towns happens.

The what is important if you live in a city and comparing that list with the one held in a small Maine town is so different.

Your happiness, your survival, your emotional and financially condition is fed differently. On a small Maine farm, you can get excited about your chickens that put themselves to bed. Are pretty low maintenance but are being eyed by a fox that sees them as individual fresh, never frozen chicken dinners.

You the homesteader building a farmstead in Maine likes the manure they create as they hunt and peck around the barn yard. Adding soil amendments and rich nutrients to the landscape you scrape, rock pick, cultivate and hoe to hopefully harvest something bountiful. To feed yourself, to sell to others what you don’t need.

Maine Garden Bounty, Creating Wealth From The Fertile Soil, Farm Dirt.

In a city you are 10 and 2 in grid lock and hot under the collar when traffic on the expressway slows to a crawl.

Or to nothing at all as a wrecker is called, a meat wagon or hearse to clean up the next accident you come up on as you take the long journey home. In a city, you get excited about an open parking space, or owning a coveted one for $30,000. Purchased to be able to leave your car close to where you live.

In a small Maine town, help yourself. Parking is free, everywhere. Less people, less problems is a big part of it. When you boil it all down. You don’t worry about crime in the 4th lowest state for it either.

The ride to and fro to work in a city. Seems long, time consuming. That in reality is just a few miles but with an obstacle course of congestion to contend with every day. In the small rural Maine community, what is traffic? There is no need to remove the keys from the ignition, to lock up the doors or be concerned about someone heisting, boosting your ride either.

See The Light, Love The Surroundings, The Locals In Maine Small Towns.

You work the local community events and help put together the behind the scenes parts of the production whatever it is.

From a community supper for a cancer survivor and their family to help out.

Or to pitch in and build a play ground, something else needed in the small Maine town. Rising to the occasion because everyone else who lives in the small Maine burg does too.

It feels good, was taught as a knee jerk reaction to see a need by parents, grandparents. Volunteer for others. It is a way of life that seems down home to a Mainer, like a fish out of water to someone that at first glance thinks hokey, unrewarding or a waste of time. Try it, you might like it city mouse. There is life beyond the pushing through crowds, trying desperately not to make eye contact and mostly looking down to seem nondescript.

Fishing For Something Missing? Maine. Find It Here.

The outdoor living, fresh air, clean water and space is what energizes in small Maine town living. In a city, space is found at one park. That’s all she wrote unless you can get out of the city. And get to a place like Maine, the way life should be. As often as you can.

Have you been away a tad too long or are you just new to these parts? Come see what you are missing in Maine, the way life should be. Still in.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730

June 14, 2016
Making A Game Of Living On Minimum Wage And Feeling Rich.

Maine is not a state known for a giant population.

See The Light, Maine Is The Source.

More wildlife than people in the wide open, unspoiled spaces and places we traipse.

Chasing, then stretching the dollar is one reason the numbers are low.

Not everyone will and some argue it is more survival than living in Maine.

But hunger improves the taste.

Increases the appreciation for what you do have that was worked hard to obtain. And demands respect, care in preserving it.

Because marching out to replace it is not done easily when the bank account is only so fat.

Not so roly poly.

And major chunks of it are already earmarked for this, this and oh yeah, that too. There is a cost to just existing, breathing and keeping the food and water flowing no matter where you are.

But if a depression, stock market crash happened, I sure would rather be in Maine than a concrete jungle.

We would make a game out of the rise to the occasion. To live simpler, more like pioneers and camping out appreciating just the basics.

Maine. Sit A Spell. See What Happens One By One To Your Senses.

Some will argue Maine IS a great place to live.

If you can make a living.

Or have an income that follows you here into Maine retirement.Or are sampling it, hitting the highlights on vacations whenever possible.

Why do I live here in Maine?

No better place to raise a family is one reason. Here are a slew of others at this link.

Your standard of living to be happy, your spending habits and impulse control all weigh in too.

What do you need to make to just barely connect the ends of the rope. Or to sleep better nights because you are not mortgaged to the hilt.

Maine’s Pure, Natural, Fun Waterways. Tap Into Them. Protect And Preserve Them.

Not wasting resources and overspending. Is tied to the overhead of any location where you decide you are best served to hang your hat.

Eeyore’s happen. Some folks would be unhappy no matter how many sacks of money surrounded them.

Stinking thinking it is dubbed.

Despite being waited on hand and foot with hired help to try to improve their life.

All the latest and greatest stuff and round the clock pampered adoration attention is medication for the symptom.

Not the cure.

Because it is not real, not all about others. Do the 180 degrees in thinking, your life outlook. Replace thinking you deserve pampered to instead be challenged. Not get comfortable and to grow, expand, become way way more.

What’s Cooking Inside, Outside When You Live In Maine? Plenty!

I think in the final analysis we get more for less in Maine.

And have more enriched lives because greater awareness happens. Less clutter, 4th lowest crime, cheap real estate where you don’t need a mortgage.

Low cost insurance for vehicles that don’t get stolen. More about meat and potatoes essentials in Maine. And that is more than good enough. Digging deep to be more happens inside a Maine person.

Live here long enough and you get it in what is important. Relationships, the connection is stronger in small rural Maine living for sure.

We need each other and depend on the back and forth to do more than survive.

In small Maine towns, folks look out for each other. Not ignore or snub or play the smug and aloof character.

Each and everyone one of us in a small Maine town has a vital role.

Children, Our Greatest Entertainment, Investment In Maine Small Town Living.

Not out to impress but to pitch in. What can I do to help?

Would be missed if plucked out of the social fabric.

Our large funerals pay homage to the importance every member of a small Maine community has in the burg or village or plantation. The hole they leave when they depart the Earth.

No one is too busy or caught up chasing their tail to miss the essentials in healthy living in Maine.

We count our blessings morning, noon and night. And we enjoy the four seasons of Maine year round. Not just a long weekend a year to sample Maine’s all natural, pure beauty and simplicity.

In Maine the simple living approach of our daily thinking means one particular question gets asked inside your head. A lot. The one about “do I need it or just want it?” We develop the two flavor choices if we don’t get raised with it ingrained deeply as a youngsters along the way to adulthood.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573

info@mooersrealty.com

August 6, 2015
Motivation, Daily Positive Spirit Living In A Small Maine Town.

Small Maine town residents are used to working hard, taking nothing for granted.

Always aware of needing each other to get it done. Because less people in Maine. So much to do. Makes a daily approach to living anything less not an option.

But sometimes not everyone is pulling together in a small Maine town.

Maybe missed the memo. Or is just an attention whore. Who can infect other individuals that become sheep who follow subdued, perplexed from the venom sting. Listening behind the scenes for one by one who is on the you know what line by line.

In time it becomes quite a collection on the manure who’s who list for company if the person is unhappy. It is not contained and spills, stains the fabric of the small Maine town. Forgets all the back up, behind the scenes folks that are faceless, in the shadows That get the credit but don’t want it. Shun it and know others do more and fuel their passion.

Attack problems, not people on the home team in a small Maine town.
Maine Small Towns Work Hard Collectively. Giving Others Credit, Not Hogging Or Needing The Spotlight.

The credit for success if it has to be beamed in a bright hot spotlight on one individual.

When constructive criticism or making a decision hammered out in committee is needed. It is like herding a cat. Because corralled, contained or just exuding good manners and taking turns. Is not something an insecure ego is used to, what it needs for temporary but destructive treatment.

Mirror mirror on the wall, well you know who is the greatest of all in one person’s opinion. It’s the unsung hero. Like real war heroes who don’t act or show it in their humbleness even keel display.

Small town Maine is simple living. Less individuals needing the credit. More just wanting to help out but not to draw attention for what they figure everyone else does too. Stepping up to the plate and proud to live in the small Maine town is more than enough reward. It is what you teach your kids too.

Down to Earth people live in Maine.

Not showy, not snobby or snarky. Not small minds but big hearts. That is what you see out in the crowd of a small Maine town. No room for negative attitudes.

Looking out for the greater good of others that are your neighbors, family, friends and co workers.
See the Trail, How Many Steps Is Your Life Long?

You believe in your Maine town, it is not about one individual effort to hold it all together. It takes the entire community. All that talent, resources creatively poured into the horsepower that gets traction in a small Maine town.

The stakes are bigger in small town Maine. Survival is everything. The margin for error is razor thin all the time. Because some would chuckle we live like we are prepared. For a recession most of the time. Better safe than sorry, be prepared thinking always in charge.

It is about the players in a small Maine town. Respect, selflessness, stick with it, dig deeper. Reach further and moving on with support thrown behind others. Even if someone does not agree with what you thought was a brilliant idea at the time. Go along to get along.
All Year Long, Maine Is Outdoor Living.

No one is the Village Idiot for trying hard and staying on board through thick and thin.

Let’s try something, not allow death by committee and think on our feet. To handle the hard decisions that have to be made in a small Maine town on the move.

Coming together on discussions in a small Maine town means not attacking people, addressing ideas and solutions instead. Working hard to forge the path, direction of the small population community. Otherwise it is last guy or gal out, remember to turn off the lights.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com

February 2, 2015
Empty Your Cup, Making Room For More Of The Little Things.

There is nothing like being humble.

Going without the most basic items, situations for greater appreciation to happen. On a cold Maine night with the wind howling, it is extra comforting to be inside a home. With the warmth of family and an antique kitchen wood cook stove. Maybe a modern one like a Jotul 404. Preparing a wholesome meal brought up from the root cellar shelves. To combine with fresh items purchase at a local food co-op. Where friends and neighbors join forces to put food on the tables that is grown close to home.

You think about even though the temperature is low, there are folks that are not in for the night.

The lineman from the local Maine electrical utility if you are not off grid. Is on stand by. With a bucket truck, chain saw, maybe pole spikes, insulated gloves and a leather belt. For the time when someone hollers “Boom Boom, Out Go The Lights”.

Cold, rainy, dark of night conditions can mean a phone call to go out in it.
Peace At The Beginning, End Of The Day In Maine.

The lowest temperatures combined with wind chill factors also create the perfect combination for the deadliest house fires. The heating systems are pushed to the max to maintain a comfortable interior. Plugged in electrical heaters spiked into outlets connected to old substandard wiring.

Creosote soaked chimneys ignite and break through old defective thimbles under layers of old wall paper no one knew were there. Until the fireman with the axe and wearing the oxygen tank and shield helmet started paddy whacking. To discover where there is smoke there is fire.

Over worked devices to keep it warm inside when it is not outside. All those electrical shorts, chimney fires and smoldering inner walls that go undetected. Just waiting for the worst conditions for firefighters to get the call. Turn on the siren and lights. Grab Spot, the dalmatian wearing the insulated coat. Let’s roll.

Same with road clearing crews when poor visibility of blowing snow, icy rain or fog team up with the low sitting mercury in the glass tube.

To make for long shifts, dangerous runs to keep roadways open. Especially for emergency equipment.

Mailman, same story. Dress warm, your appointed rounds are waiting for you. The delivery to your assigned zip code show must go on no matter what. Sure the job is fun on a summer day. Wearing short pants, shirts without sleeves. You can say it is all part of the job. The one that each signed on for or they could quit. I am glad they want to do what I am happy I don’t have to for a job.
Growing Up In Maine, The Fun Home Made, Outdoors.

It makes your appreciate the little things.

When inclement weather means you and I can hunker down and stay inside. Still watering, graining, haying the farm life stock.

Delivering new stock often born, delivered the briskest day of the year it always seems. Could you be a Maine farmer?

Do you think of the most basics as special the way you live now? You would if you live in a neatly connected Maine small town.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com

January 5, 2015